In Vino Veritas
by parttimeficwriter
Summary: Silly fluff fic that shouldn't be taken too seriously! H/R. Harry convinces Ruth to get drunk with him.


**This is a fluffy fic that is set between 5:3 and 5:4. As with most fluffy pieces it's not to be taken too seriously! It's a lot longer than I'd originally intended but I don't think it'd work if I split it in to chapters.**

**The idea for the fic is based loosely on a scene from Doc Martin which belongs to Buffalo Pictures and is certainly not mine. Sadly, Harry and Ruth still belong to Kudos :(**

**Huge thanks to Lynn for the title suggestion :)

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"Ruth?"

She stopped what she was doing and looked up to find Harry making his way across the Grid towards her. "Yes, Harry?" she replied sitting up a little straighter and offering him a shy but warm smile.

"Do you have plans this evening?" He was slightly disappointed to see her eyes flick around the room to make certain that they were alone but dismissed it when she finally met his eye and answered him.

"N-no, well, just paperwork but that's not really a plan as in having plans for the evening," she garbled aware that her mouth had suddenly gone dry and feeling like a complete idiot. Thankfully for her he seemed used to her inane ramblings and merely smiled encouragingly at her.

"Good, that's good," he murmured, "that you have no plans," he clarified, wholly unnecessarily. "I'd like to invite you for drinks. With me. At my house." He shook his head in disbelief and wondered if her particular brand of communication was catching.

"Drinking? Alone. A-at your house-" she trailed off, eyes widening as her thoughts skittered off in a direction that was totally inappropriate and made her cheeks flush.

"No! Well, yes but not for," he stopped himself, took a breath and forced himself to carry on in a much calmer, less panicked tone. "I'm not explaining myself very well. I just thought it might give us an opportunity to talk. Properly. Away from prying eyes and hushed whispers and in more of a relaxed atmosphere."

"You haven't given up on me then?" she asked, quietly, after several moments of contemplation.

He smiled in relief and whispered, "Never."

"I don't really drink that much Harry."

"I know, nor me." She raised her eyebrow in blatant disbelief. "Not in company at least." He wasn't sure that that made him sound very good at all but she seemed to accept it so he carried on. "I was hoping that it might make us open up a bit more with one another."

She cocked her head to one side and studied him in earnest noting the hope in his eyes. "No white burgundy," she said, eventually, and was rewarded with a smile that made her stomach flutter.

"It's a deal."

* * *

They had agreed that they would meet at Harry's place as he had a late meeting off the Grid and both thought it more discreet this way. Ruth had spent the remainder of the day alternately fretting and fantasising about what the evening ahead might bring and was decidedly nervous as she knocked on Harry's front door.

"Hi," he greeted her softly opening the door wide and ushering her inside.

"Hi." She brushed past him in to the hallway and looked at him expectantly. Harry held her gaze and marvelled at the fact that she was there, in his home, to spend the evening with him. _Him._ "Um-" she murmured, startling him out of his reverie.

"Sorry! Er, kitchen," he announced, loudly, needlessly pointing down the hallway as he scurried past her and led the way. The kitchen was bright and airy, a fresh summer breeze wafting in through the open back door and she instantly felt herself relax a little bit at how warm and inviting his house was. It also didn't hurt that he seemed just as nervous as she felt. Two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine stood in the centre of his oak wood table. "Drink?" he asked, noticing her take in the display on the table.

"I thought that was the point," she teased, amused to see him rattled. It wasn't often she saw him vulnerable and she admitted to herself that she rather liked it.

"Quite," he said, smiling wryly as he reached for the wine. He held up the bottle of Merlot and showed it to her, "Is this acceptable?"

"Yes, thank you."

Harry poured them both a generous glass each and then gestured for her to sit down. She chose to sit opposite him and watched as he eagerly drank the first few mouthfuls of his wine. "You mustn't think that I need to drink in order to spend the evening with you," he said as he looked up to find her watching him intently.

"I don't." She fiddled with the stem of her wine glass, almost knocking it over as her hands trembled unexpectedly.

"Good."

"You're nervous?" she ventured, taking a hearty gulp of her drink in a bid to stop her hands from shaking quite so much.

"Yes."

"Me too." They shared a conspirational smile which soon descended in to a fit of laughter that both welcomed to break the tension. "We make a right pair, don't we?" she asked, still chuckling, amused at the thought that two supposedly mature adults had been reduced to this.

There was a flash of something in his eyes and a whole new game began as he murmured, "I like to think so, yes."

* * *

Harry was pouring them both a glass from their third shared bottle as she returned, somewhat cautiously, from the bathroom. She was enjoying herself, his shameless yet harmless flirting had charmed and excited her and she had responded in kind more than once. The more they drank, the easier the conversation seemed to flow and the harder it became not to just give in to her feelings for him and lean across the table to kiss him senseless but she held back in fear of having read the signals wrong.

"Do you know why I wanted to do this?" he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

She took a drink of her wine and shot him what she hope passed for a flirtatious look, "To get me drunk and take advantage of me?"

"No, no! I wouldn't do that, R-Ruth," her name came out between hiccups and he swore lightly as more of them wracked his body, "I'm-_hic_-a-_hic_-gentleman." His honesty and the slightly wounded look on his face did more to her confidence in that instance than anything ever had.

Ruth set down her glass in front of her and caught his eye. "In that case, would it be terribly unladylike of me to take advantage of you?"

Evidently the shock was enough to cure him of his hiccups as he immediately sat up straight and watched her for any sign that she was joking. She flushed at her own boldness and he was mesmerised by the sight of it. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" he whispered, reaching out his hand to cup her still flushed cheek, "Do you have any idea, at all, of how much I ache for you?"

Her pulse raced at his touch and she felt an answering tingle filter through her body at his words. "Tell me," she ordered, entranced by the look in his eyes.

"Just a glimpse of your face, the hint of a smile on your lips, the sound of your voice in my ear makes me want you more than I've ever wanted anyone in my entire life."

She swallowed hard as the desire pooled in her stomach. "Oh God, Harry," she whispered in a shaky voice.

"I love you, Ruth."

"Oh, Harry," she sighed, leaning over to him and meeting his lips for a hurried kiss. It wasn't enough, she wasn't close enough to him and as his tongue swept in to her mouth and gladly tangled with hers she found herself climbing on to the table in an attempt to feel his body against hers. He kissed her savagely, marking her soul with his passion for her and making her forget her surroundings. So much so that as she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt and crawled across the table she knocked over the bottle of wine which immediately seeped through her skirt and made her yelp in surprise.

"Shit," she panted, immediately trying to right the upended bottle and shift herself from the puddle of wine on the table. She leapt off the table and tried not to grimace too much from the feel of her wet clothes.

"Go and get yourself sorted out," ordered Harry between giggles, "I'll sort this out." He reached over for a tea towel and dumped it on top of the spilt wine.

"Ok, but don't go anywhere," she said with a pout.

He kissed her quickly on the lips as she passed him, "Wild horses couldn't drag me away."

* * *

In her overly tipsy, adrenalin-fuelled state it took her longer than she had anticipated to remove the excess wine from her skirt and to make herself look presentable again. Finally resigned to the fact that she probably wasn't ever going to get the stain out of her skirt she left the bathroom and heads back to the kitchen, thoughts awash with images of Harry and his partially open shirt and how she was going to enjoy running her hands, and then her tongue, over his chest once it was fully exposed to her. Her fantasy collapsed however when she walked in to find him asleep with his head on the table.

"Harry?" she called, loudly, as she sidled up to him. Her only response was a rather loud snore and she didn't know whether to laugh at him or kick him in the shins for nodding off. Taking pity on him she tried to wake him gently and steer him in the direction of his bedroom but all attempts were thwarted when he refused to wake up.

"When I said don't go anywhere," she told his sleeping form, "I didn't mean for you to pass out on me you silly man!"

Shaking her head at him she wandered off, returning a few minutes later with a throw from one of the couches in the living room. She wrapped it around his shoulders, kissed his temple and whispered, "I love you too," before stumbling back off to the living room and collapsing in a tired heap on his sofa.

* * *

A loud yelp pulled her roused her from her slumber some hours later and she was instantly alert, searching the room for signs of potential danger. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was and when she did she groaned loudly at the memory. She stood up and raised a tentative hand to her forehead as it pounded. Cursing her own stupidity and swearing an oath to never drink so much again she stumbled towards the kitchen where she found Harry sat on the kitchen floor nursing his head in his hands.

"Harry?" she asked, wincing at the loudness of her own voice.

"I fell off the chair."

"Oh. Are you alright?"

"Aside from the horrendous hangover, yes."

"Me too. Hungover, I mean."

"I feel the need to apologise," he said as he stood and walked over to the sink to get the both a glass of water.

"No, no, it's fine," she said, feeling her heart sink at the thought that he didn't remember what had happened last night. "Nothing, um, happened."

"Ruth," he fixed her with a no nonsense stare, "I may have been drunk but I didn't lose my memory."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry I fell asleep on you," he told her, quietly, and handed her the water, "I should have warned you that a large amount of red wine makes me sleepy."

She smiled at that. "Yes you should," she agreed, relaxing slightly. They were silent a moment as they both drained the contents of their glasses and silently contemplated what to do next.

"Did you," she summoned up her courage and kept a tight hold of it as he gazed at her, "Did you mean what you said?"

"That I love you?" His gaze was impossibly soft as he watched her nod shyly, "Yes, I did."

The breath she had been holding as she waited for his answer rushed past her lips. Her hands trembled and the onslaught of butterflies in her stomach did little to calm her palpitating heart. "Would you say it again?"

He took a step nearer to her before boldly grabbing her by the waist, pulling her flush against him. "I love you, Ruth," he purred seconds before his lips caught hers in a soft, sensuous kiss.

"I love you too," she mumbled against his mouth, not yet ready to relinquish the sweetness of his lips. They kept their kisses light, sensing the passion that swum beneath the surface but unwilling to give in to it when they were in a less than ideal state of personal health and hygiene.

"Harry," she muttered, pulling away from his mouth long enough to speak.

"Mmm?" he answered, distracted by the curve of her top lip.

"Can I use your shower?"

He pulled back and looked at her, confusion evident at the sudden topic shift. "Yes, of course you can."

"Good," she disentangled herself from him and shot him a mischievous smile, "because I think you've got some advantage taking to do now that I am of sound mind and willing body."

His arm snaked out and captured her hand in his. "Excellent point, Miss Evershed," he whispered and pulled her out of the kitchen, "in fact I think I'll start by insisting on sharing that shower with you."

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**That's all folks! **

**Hope you enjoyed, leave me a review and let me know what you think. **


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